Pack drives Ireland U20s to first All Black scalp

Ireland 33 New Zealand 24: As winger Malo Tuitama raced in for his second try to cut the gap to six points with as many minutes remaining, up on the press bench we started preparing another hard luck story for Irish rugby against New Zealand.

But while we may have been thinking that at the back of the stand at Manchester City Academy Stadium, the players out on the sodden pitch were working off a different script. They were writing history while we were contemplating past failures.

There was nothing lucky or gimmicky about this Irish win, the first by an Irish men’s national side against New Zealand — tipping the cap to Munster in ’78 and the women’s team at the World Cup two years ago.